WINSTON-SALEM – University of North
Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA)
Chancellor John Mauceri announced today
that Susan Jaffe, one of the leading
ballerinas of our time, will become the
next Dean of the UNCSA School of Dance.

For 22 years, Jaffe danced with American
Ballet Theatre (ABT), where, after she
retired from the stage, she joined the
faculty of the Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis School. She was named a Ballet
Mistress with the main company in 2010.

Jaffe has danced on the world’s greatest
stages – Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the
Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the
Vienna State Opera House, and London’s
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to
name a few – and with some of the most
important dancers of our time, from
Mikhail Baryshnikov to former Dean of
Dance Ethan Stiefel and current UNCSA
faculty member Frank Smith. During the
current ABT season at New York’s
Metropolitan Opera, Jaffe has performed
the roles of Lady Capulet in Romeo
and Juliet and the Queen in Swan
Lake, opposite UNCSA alumna and
principal dancer Gillian Murphy. In
addition, Jaffe has worked directly with
some of the greatest choreographers of
all time, including George Balanchine,
Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Roland
Petit and Twyla Tharp, recipient of a
UNCSA honorary doctorate.

“After a two-year search to find the
ideal leader of our School of Dance,I am delighted that Susan Jaffe,
once declared ‘America’s Quintessential
American Ballerina’ by The New York
Times, will join UNCSA,” said Chancellor
Mauceri. “Her credentials are
first-class and world-class. Her
experience as a principal dancer,
choreographer, and teacher makes her the
perfect person to take the helm of our
wonderful dance school and guide it to
further and future greatness.”

Jaffe begins her tenure as Dean on Aug.
15 and plans to move to Winston-Salem
this summer.

Photo by Rosalie O'ConnorSusan Jaffe

Charles C. Lucas, III, chair of the UNCSA Board of
Trustees, added: ““The
appointment of Susan Jaffe is a remarkable achievement
and a game changer for the School of Dance and UNCSA. I
am thrilled for UNCSA and cannot wait to welcome Dean
Jaffe to campus. Congratulations to Ms. Jaffe and
particularly Chancellor Mauceri for this extraordinary
appointment.”

Jaffe said, “I am excited to become part of the School
of the Arts family. The UNCSA School of Dance has an
incredible reputation and track record for alumni
placement and achievement in the dance world. Having run
my own school, I believe that I’m well prepared to take
advantage of the opportunities that we have before us. I
am looking forward to being part of John Mauceri’s ‘Team
UNCSA.’”

Jaffe will succeed Interim Dance Dean Brenda Daniels,
who will become Associate Dean. Daniels
holds the Betsy Friday Distinguished Professorship in
Contemporary Dance at UNCSA, where she has been on the
faculty since 1995 and has been the Assistant Dean for
Contemporary Dance since 2004.

“When I met Susan, I felt like I had known her my entire
life,” Daniels said. “I
know she will do a great job as dean, and am looking
forward to having her on board.”

SUSAN JAFFE

Susan Jaffe was born in Washington, D.C., and began her
dance training at the Maryland School of Ballet with
Hortensia Fonseca, Elizabeth Statler and Michelle Lees.
She later studied on a full scholarship at the School of
American Ballet during the summer of 1975, and
subsequently as a summer intensive student on
scholarship at the American Ballet Theatre School. She
performed leading roles with the Maryland Youth Ballet
and, in 1978, joined American Ballet Theatre II, ABT's
junior troupe.

In 1980, at the invitation of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jaffe
joined American Ballet Theatre and became well known in
the dance world at an extremely young age. Her debut in
Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center was made when
she was plucked from the corps de ballet for the 1980
opening night season to dance opposite recently defected
Alexander Godunov in the pas de deux, Pas d’Esclave,
from Le Corsaire. She became a Soloist in 1981
and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1983.

Jaffe’s versatility as a dancer allowed her to tackle a
large range of choreographic works, from the classics
such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty to
the dramatic works of John Cranko and Agnes de Mille.
She has worked with and performed the repertoire of many
of the 20th century’s most prominent choreographers,
including George Balanchine (Apollo,
Mozartiana, Who Cares, Theme &
Variations, Ballet Imperial, Violin
Concerto, La Sonnambula, Bourree
Fantasque), Antony Tudor (Jardin aux Lilas,
Undertow, Gala Performance, Dim
Lustre), Kenneth MacMillan (Manon, The
Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet,
Requiem), Jerome Robbins (Afternoon of a Faun,
Other Dances, N.Y. Opus Jazz), Roland
Petit (Carmen), Twyla Tharp (Push Comes to
Shove, Everlast, Sextet, How Near
Heaven, Bach Partita, Americans We,
Known By Heart), Nacho Duato (Without Words),
Jiri Kilyan (Stepping Stones) and James Kudelka
(Cruel World, States of Grace).

Prominent in the international dance scene as well, her
European engagements have included performances with The
Royal Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet,
The Munich State Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet in Milan,
The Vienna State Opera Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet,
The Royal Swedish Ballet, and The English National
Ballet.

In 2003, Jaffe co-founded the Princeton Dance & Theatre
Studio in Princeton, N.J. As a result of owning a
school, she expanded into choreography. Her original
creations for the school include The Nutcracker, Pop
Sonata, Ballet Studies, Tarantella, Glass Cuts, Carnival
of the Animals, and TheCancan. She is
also co-founder and co-director of DanceVision and
DanceVision Youth Ensemble in Princeton.

Jaffe has choreographed for universities such as Texas
Christian University, Princeton University and Goucher
College, as well as professional companies such as Lemon
Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet and Configurations
Dance. For the 2010 Gala for Youth America Grand Prix in
New York City, she created Sognato, a pas de deux
for Isabella Boylston and UNCSA Dance alumnus Blaine
Hoven of American Ballet Theatre. And, in 2011, she
choreographed We Insist for the Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, a
ballet later performed by the ABT Studio Company.
In 2012, she created A Tango, a pas de deux
choreographed on the ABT Studio Company, and Blue pas
de deux, which was performed at the opening night
gala of American Ballet Theatre, danced by Veronika Part
and Thomas Forster.

Television appearances have included several "Dance in
America" programs and host of "Dance New York,"
co-produced by
Dance Magazine and WNYE-TV Channel 25. Film
credits include 1994's ANGIE with Geena Davis and the
1995 documentary BALLET, directed by Frederick Wiseman.

Jaffe has served as adviser to the chairman and
president of the Board of Governing Trustees at American
Ballet Theatre. She also serves on the board of
directors of the Youth America Grand Prix, the world’s
largest student ballet competition, and gives master
classes throughout the United States and Japan.

Jaffe is author of a children's book, "Becoming a
Ballerina,” and has taught corporate lectures on
"Excellence" in conjunction with Duke Corporate
Education for Lehman Brothers, and
PriceWaterHouseCoopers. She holds an Honorary Doctorate
from Texas Christian University.

In 2003, she was awarded the coveted Dance Magazine
Award.

UNCSA-ABT HISTORY

The appointment of Susan Jaffe continues a longtime
relationship with American Ballet Theatre for UNCSA.

The Founding Dean of the School of Dance, Robert
Lindgren, danced with ABT (then Ballet Theatre) during
its early years, from 1942-43.

Ethan Stiefel, an ABT principal dancer who has danced
with Jaffe, served as UNCSA Dance Dean from 2008-2011,
before becoming artistic director of The Royal New
Zealand Ballet. Stiefel is retiring from American Ballet
Theatre this weekend.

Alex Ewing, son of the late Lucia Chase, who danced with
and served ABT as artistic director from 1945-1980,
served as Interim Dean of the School of Dance in 2007.
Ewing also was Chancellor of UNCSA from 1990 to 2000.

Current UNCSA ballet faculty members who are former
members of ABT include Warren Conover (who teaches for
ABT’s Summer Intensive), Fanchon Cordell and Frank
Smith.

UNCSA alumni at American Ballet Theatre include
Principal Dancer Gillian Murphy, Soloist Maria Riccetto
and corps de ballet members Julio Bragado-Young, Blaine
Hoven, Joseph Phillips, Kelley Potter and Isaac Stappas,
as well as ABT Associate Artistic Director and former
Principal Dancer, Victor Barbee. Barbee’s wife,
Principal Dancer Julie Kent, received an honorary
doctorate from UNCSA and spoke at the 2012 high school
commencement. ABT Lighting Director Brad Fields is an
alumnus of UNCSA School of Design and Production.

In past years, UNCSA has hosted numerous residencies and
performances by the ABT Studio Company.

On June 30, 2011, UNCSA and ABT announced a five-year
partnership with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
at ABT.

UNCSA

As America’s first state-supported arts school, the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a
unique stand-alone public university of arts
conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a
degree-granting institution that trains young people of
talent in music, dance, drama, filmmaking, and design
and production. Established by the N.C. General Assembly
in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem
(“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became
part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972.

World-renowned conductor and educator John Mauceri
became Chancellor of UNCSA in 2006. For more
information, visit www.uncsa.edu.